Dead Space: Requiem
Chapter Two Nightmares

The first thing that came to Vinyls mind was the absolute pain that throttled in her head. Without even opening her eyes or even being fully conscious, she felt the pain all the way in deep sleep, rousing her to break the surface of psychosis. Her eyes shot open, bloodshot and dilated, whisking around her surroundings in lighting fast speeds. She was in an infirmary room, laying down on a normal cot. The room was dimly lit by the sun just outside of the window, giving it an eerie calmness that made Vinyl wary. Her mouth felt of lead and was twisted up in confusing knots after not drinking any substance for...she didn't know how long. All her bones and muscles felt weak, energy completely absent. Though she struggled into a sitting position, gaining a better hold of her awareness. She was still suited in her light flame retardant suit, which meant it wasn't that long of a stay.

How long was I out? Vinyl wondered. The last tangible memory was the doctor sedating her after had finding a dead body in the stasis room.

Grunting, the unicorn had made it to her hooves, pathetically collapsing to the floor. After a moment of regaining footing, she slowly shuffled to the counter and leaned on it for support. She felt the energy begin to swell in her again, which then she ventured to the door. A slight pull of her magic and the door swung open.

The halls were quite and completely peaceful, though no pony was present in the halls. It became eerie to Vinyl when she noticed the lack of life. Before she was sedated, the halls were brimming with chaos. Now, nothing but turned over beds and thrown sheets littered the place. Where was every pony? Had they just gotten up and left? Vinyl pondered her questions while moving slowly down the hall. Sickness covered her entire body like a thick film, giving her a feverish mind and slowly deteriorating speed. She shambled down hall way after hall way, giving her choices serious consideration.

Where do I go? If I go home, who knows what'll be there or if I'll find out what I need to know. Then...I'll go to the chief. He'll know what's going on. Vinyl nodded, but froze in a stiff jumble when there came rattling above her, the ventilation shaft's metal shifting around. Her blood pumped viciously in her veins, enhancing the throbbing pain that rocked her cranium.

Vsst A noise hissed from her communicator. On reaction, Vinyl slammed the answer call button, relief washing down on her. The face of a rookie engineer named Gritty Gear who Vinyl had known just graduated and boarded the Requiem for his first job during their last docking.

"Vinyl! You're okay!" Gear said, smiling happily with tired and sore eyes. His face was tensed but looked utterly dead,

"Gritty?" Vinyl called out, the light from the communicator being the only bright thing she saw for the past ten minutes. "What the hell happened?"

"What happened?" Gritty Gears repeated dumbly. He sighed and gathered his thought, face twisting to remember what had happened and the perils he had faced. "I-I-I don't know...." Gritty sobbed out, tears beginning to roll down his dusty cheeks.

Vinyl stopped squirming in the light and froze, hoof sinking to the ground. She turned her face and stared at Gritty with a bewildered face. "What do you mean you don't know, Gritty? I've been out cold for I don't know how long while you've been awake. I've been walking through spooky hall ways with absolutely no life present. Give me an answer!"

Gritty slumped his head into his hooves, shivering while he bawled. Tears whetted his fur and suit. Vinyl grew impatient quickly, the fever intensified.

"Okay, Gritty, keep it together okay?" Vinyl prompted. Gritty looked up from his hooves and nodded shortly.

"Alright. So...wheres the chief?"

Gritty sniffed and wiped his snot on his sleeve. He looked up into the ceiling as if it had his answer waiting for him there.

"The last thing I remember about the chief was...that he threw me and two others in here and sodded the door shut."

"Sodded the door shut? Why?"

Gritty looked behind him into the darkness before answering. "I think he was trying to protect us, Vinyl. We need help though." Gritty scratched the back of his head and looked to side of him nervously. "One of us is wounded and we don't have much food left. And i keep hearing noises in the vents."

Vinyl scratched her own head, pondering what to do next. "Alright, I'll get you out. Can you send me your location? We'll talk without video." Vinyl said, looking into the relieved stallions face.

Vinyl received the coordinates and opened her locator. The blue line streamlined on the ground and ran to the elevator down the hall.

"Thanks." Vinyl said, standing up and walking to the elevator. "How did you communicate me in the first place?"

"This is the chief's office Vinyl. I can see the vitals of all the engineers aboard the ship, only the ones that are wearing the suits at the moment though. The suits tap into their nervous and circulatory systems in case of emergency."

Vinyl stopped for a moment. "How many engineers are registered on the terminal?"

Gritty stalled. "Uh...twenty -four. Ten are registered for wearing their suits."

"How many are alive, Gritty?"

Gritty did not answer, growing silent. "There's only three left. All the rest are flat-lined."

Gritty's voice sent chills down, it became small and gruff. Whatever happened to the seven engineers, it had to be devastating. Vinyl shook her head and continued on, pushing the deaths of her co-workers to the back of her mind. Vinyl opened the elevator, the bright blinding light exploding on to the white unicorn. It surprised her how bright it was compared to the dark hallways and solid, dull colors. Once inside, she pressed the A floor's button, the elevator shooting up in response.

"Gritty, where were you before all this started?" Vinyl asked to pass the time.

"Well, I was walking around in the city and out of nowhere, these two ponies start fighting. One of them just ripped a piece of his shoulder off. Soon the security came and arrested the two. I was on my way to the chief's office to talk to him about a job I was doing in the basement, but when I got to his door, the ship started to freak out. Two ponies that were waiting just outside his door to talk to him I forgot to mention."

"The light's went off and there was screaming. That's when the vent's started to rattle like crazy." Gritty paused, trying to remember. "Then the chief burst through his door, threw me and the two ponies into the office and sodded the door." He finished.

Vinyl crossed her legs, curious of the events that had transpired while she was asleep. "Who are these two ponies, Gritty?"

Gritty didn't speak for a moment, a shuffling sound came. "One's a mare, the others a colt. The mare is the one that is wounded. They're both asleep right now."

The elevator doors snapped wide open, an oppressively dark, long hallway full of doors greeted Vinyl. Vinyl instinctivley pulled a flashlight from a mini-utility belt on her hip. Huh. Forgot I had this thing.

"Why are you awake, Gritty?" Vinyl asked, walking down the hallway with no light to find her way. It didn't matter though, she knew exactly where the chief's was.

"I'm keeping watch. I've only slept like, half a day these five days."

Vinyl rose and eyebrow and slowed down. "Watching for what?"

Gritty sighed heavily. "For whatever's causing all this to happen."

The door the three were locked in stared Vinyl in the face, walking towards it Vinyl pulled of a lazer cutter from her small utility belt, prepping herself to open it. The cutter worked quickly, shaving the fused metal between the door and the wall. Soon, the door was cut and it slid open. Standing right in front of the door was Gritty, whose face looked even worse than the video.

"Alright Gritty, get ready to..." Vinyl trailed off and grew confused. Gritty was solid and frozen, he didn't move a muscle. "You alright?" Vinyl asked.

A small bump appeared on his forehead, growing larger by the second. In a matter of seconds, the bump had burst, and out came a sharp point, shoving farther through his cranium. Vinyl gasped, blood covering her face and clothes, jumping back in surprise. The spike stopped moving, then quickly became dislodged and let the small framed stallion fall to the ground. What had killed him stood defiantly before Vinyl, the monster that had appeared in her dream six night's prior. It glared and Vinyl and screamed, piercing her ears and making her cringe.

Vinyl watched it come towards her through squinted eyes. Reacting to suppress it, she lifted her lazer and shot the beam right into the monsters gaping, toothy mouth. It drilled a hole right through the muscle and the tissue, stunning the monster for a moment. Taking the chance, Vinyl rushed forward and punched the monster in the face, causing it to lose its balance. Finally, she shoved the monster to the ground and began to furiously stomp it's head in. Without stopping, she decapitated the monster and still smashed the head into pieces. Vinyl slowly stopped stomping, stepping back for a moment to gather her breath. Gasping for air, she ignored the abomination and came to the door. Gritty lay dead at her hooves, making Vinyl's throat twist and become dry. Another person had become lost to the mess.

She looked in for the colt that he had mentioned, but did not find it at a small glance. Deciding to search within, the unicorn lifted the dead stallion with her fore-legs from the doorway and set it down on the desk in the center of the office. Looking around the dark room, she admired the black and red tapestries that decorated the room with CEC awards. The chief's engineering suit was hung up on the wall to the left of the room, where two cots lay unattended. After searching the entire room and not finding the colt, Vinyl gave up. He had escaped somehow and was alone in the massacre.

"What do I do now?" Vinyl asked herself, slumping down in the seat behind the desk. She didn't have many choices, considering the violence that was most likely anywhere, waiting for her and waiting for a chance to strike.

Looking at the engineer suit, Vinyl got up from the seat to inspect it. It was a older model than the standard one that all the current CECs wore, making Vinyl wonder what it's story. The suit was in good condition, being polished everyday by the engineers executive.

Soon, the metal suit was fitted tightly around the white unicorn, the metal boots clanking easily when she walked. Prongs came out of the neck of the suit and caught her neon blue hair, pulling it back and down into the base. Then the sectioned bars and base came around her entire head, wrapping around her temples and securing fit back into the neck. The blue light of her suit's HUD came into view, showing her RIG's status. She felt equipped and ready to take on whatever lay in her path.

A blaring sound exploded from the desk, the terminal flashing blue and yellow at an alarming rate. Vinyl hurried over and inspected the screen. The screen showed the entire ship and the individual sections status of damage. Vinyl inspected the surface city, bringing up the surviving video feeds. What showed was devastated buildings, wildfire laying waste to the interiors, and black figures dashing around within them. Vinyl jumped at the sudden beeping of the machine, bringing up a notification on the botanical gardens. It had suffered heavy damage to it's filtration system, the video feed showing a transparent cloud rolling around. The plant's that would be secure were rustling around in the harmful smog, but what caused Vinyl's most worry was the flash of a pegasus darting past. Three of the same monsters that she had encountered quickly chased after the pony. Vinyl debated whether or not to save the distraught pony, if she should just go back to her home. With a sigh, she leaped off the desk and charged down the hall to the elevator.

Just hold on, I'm coming.

Author's Note

Sorry for the delay, but I've published again. If anyone would like to edit for me so I can amp production faster, that'd be awesome. I'm taxed on writing, so just message me if you want to see the new chapters early and fix my dead brained problems. You would be credited in each chapter and in the description so, yeah. Your choice.

If the chapter seems loose and rush, that's 'cause it is. I'm antsy when it comes to my new chapters to publish, so if I miss an entire week without publishing, I spend an entire night to finish it.

Thanks for reading!